Emily Stanley is an American professor of

limnology Limnology ( ; ) is the study of inland aquatic ecosystems. It includes aspects of the biological, chemical, physical, and geological characteristics of fresh and saline, natural and man-made bodies of water. This includes the study of lakes, ...

at the

University of Wisconsin–Madison The University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin, UW, UW–Madison, or simply Madison) is a public land-grant research university in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. It was founded in 1848 when Wisconsin achieved st ...

. She was named a 2018

Ecological Society of America The Ecological Society of America (ESA) is a professional organization of ecological scientists. Based in the United States and founded in 1915, ESA publications include peer-reviewed journals, newsletters, fact sheets, and teaching resources. I ...

Fellow and her research focuses on the ecology of freshwater ecosystems.

Early life and education

Emily Stanley was born in

Bethlehem, Pennsylvania Bethlehem is a city in Northampton County, Pennsylvania, Northampton and Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, Lehigh counties in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, Bethle ...

to parents Frank and Elizabeth. She has three siblings: Jonathan, Elizabeth, and James. Emily Stanley received her B.S. in

biology Biology is the scientific study of life and living organisms. It is a broad natural science that encompasses a wide range of fields and unifying principles that explain the structure, function, growth, History of life, origin, evolution, and ...

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

in 1984, her M.S. in biology at

Southwest Texas State University Texas State University (TXST) is a public research university with its main campus in San Marcos, Texas, United States, and another campus in Round Rock. Since its establishment in 1899, the university has grown to be one of the largest univer ...

in 1986, and her Ph.D. in

zoology Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the anatomy, structure, embryology, Biological classification, classification, Ethology, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinction, extinct, and ...

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public university, public research university in Tempe, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 as Territorial Normal School by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, the university is o ...

in 1993. Her Ph.D. advisor was Stuart Fisher, a professor emeritus at the School of Life Sciences at

Career and research

After completing her Ph.D., Stanley worked as a postdoctoral research assistant at the

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, the Capstone, or Bama) is a Public university, public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of ...

for two years, then was associate professor at

Oklahoma State University Oklahoma State University (informally Oklahoma State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Stillwater, Oklahoma, United States. The university was established in 1890 under the legislation of the Morrill Act. Originally known ...

in the zoology department for three years. In 1998 she became associate professor at the

University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...

Center for Limnology and Department of Integrative Biology. In 2010, she was promoted to Full Professor. Stanley's research focuses on

, as well as river and stream

ecosystem ecology Ecosystem ecology is the integrated study of living ( biotic) and non-living ( abiotic) components of ecosystems and their interactions within an ecosystem framework. This science examines how ecosystems work and relates this to their components ...

. Her Ph.D. thesis studied a stream in the

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

Sonoran Desert The Sonoran Desert () is a hot desert and ecoregion in North America that covers the northwestern Mexican states of Sonora, Baja California, and Baja California Sur, as well as part of the Southwestern United States (in Arizona and California). It ...

to determine how the different parts of the streams dried during warmer months, and it was determined that when each part of the stream

ecosystem An ecosystem (or ecological system) is a system formed by Organism, organisms in interaction with their Biophysical environment, environment. The Biotic material, biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and en ...

shrinks and expands, the

stream A stream is a continuous body of water, body of surface water Current (stream), flowing within the stream bed, bed and bank (geography), banks of a channel (geography), channel. Depending on its location or certain characteristics, a strea ...

as a whole fluctuates in size. According to her paper, this research could help predict how drying patterns cause changes in ecosystems, and knowing that stream ecosystems change over space and time can also be used to predict how streams could change due to

climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...

. Other research of hers includes studying the effects of

dam removal Dam removal is the process of demolishing a dam, returning water flow to the river. Arguments for dam removal consider whether their negative effects outweigh their benefits. The benefits of dams include hydropower production, flood control, ir ...

on ecosystems and predicting how best to manage the consequences. She has also researched how different factors such as

hydrology Hydrology () is the scientific study of the movement, distribution, and management of water on Earth and other planets, including the water cycle, water resources, and drainage basin sustainability. A practitioner of hydrology is called a hydro ...

biochemistry Biochemistry, or biological chemistry, is the study of chemical processes within and relating to living organisms. A sub-discipline of both chemistry and biology, biochemistry may be divided into three fields: structural biology, enzymology, a ...

invasive species An invasive species is an introduced species that harms its new environment. Invasive species adversely affect habitats and bioregions, causing ecological, environmental, and/or economic damage. The term can also be used for native spec ...

, and human

land-use Land use is an umbrella term to describe what happens on a parcel of land. It concerns the benefits derived from using the land, and also the land management actions that humans carry out there. The following categories are used for land use: fore ...

alter lakes and rivers. Changes in freshwater ecosystems, according to her research, can affect services humans get from these ecosystems, such as

drinking water Drinking water or potable water is water that is safe for ingestion, either when drunk directly in liquid form or consumed indirectly through food preparation. It is often (but not always) supplied through taps, in which case it is also calle ...

. Emily Stanley has also studied

riparian zone A riparian zone or riparian area is the interface between land and a river or stream. In some regions, the terms riparian woodland, riparian forest, riparian buffer zone, riparian corridor, and riparian strip are used to characterize a ripari ...

s, which are the areas between rivers and land, and how human impacts can change these ecosystems. In addition, she has studied

hyporheic zone The hyporheic zone is the region of sediment and porous space beneath and alongside a stream bed, where there is mixing of shallow groundwater and surface water. The flow dynamics and behavior in this zone (termed hyporheic flow or underflow) is re ...

s, areas where

surface water Surface water is water located on top of land, forming terrestrial (surrounding by land on all sides) waterbodies, and may also be referred to as ''blue water'', opposed to the seawater and waterbodies like the ocean. The vast majority of surfac ...

mixes with

groundwater Groundwater is the water present beneath Earth's surface in rock and Pore space in soil, soil pore spaces and in the fractures of stratum, rock formations. About 30 percent of all readily available fresh water in the world is groundwater. A unit ...

, and researched how water and nutrients are exchanged between the two.

Awards and honors

*2003-2005 – University of Wisconsin Vilas Associate Award *2003-2008 –

Vilas Associate Award *2006 – Aldo Leopold Leadership Program *2008 – University of Wisconsin Romnes Faculty Fellowship Award *2015 –

Kellett Mid-Career Faculty Researcher Award *2018 – Fellow of the

Society for Freshwater Science The Society for Freshwater Science (SFS) is an international scientific society whose members study freshwater ecosystems (rivers, streams, lakes, reservoirs, and estuaries) and ecosystems at the interface between aquatic and terrestrial habitats ...

*2018 – ASLO G. Evelyn Hutchinson Award *2018 – Fellow of the

Notable publications

1997: "Ecosystem expansion and contraction in streams," ''BioScience'' 1998: "The functional significance of the hyporheic zone in streams and rivers," ''Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics'' 2002: "Landscape indicators of human impacts to riverine systems," ''Aquatic Sciences'' 2003: "Trading off: the ecological effects of dam removal," ''Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment'' 2011: "State of the world's freshwater ecosystems: physical, chemical, and biological changes," ''Annual Review of Environment and Resources''

References

External links

*
Emily Stanley
on

website {{DEFAULTSORT:Stanley, Emily 1960s births Living people American women biologists American zoologists Arizona State University alumni Texas State University alumni Yale University alumni Oklahoma State University faculty University of Alabama faculty University of Wisconsin–Madison faculty Fellows of the Ecological Society of America People from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania Year of birth missing (living people) Women limnologists American limnologists American women academics 21st-century American women